familypediawikiaorg-20200214-history
Denton County, Texas
Denton County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 662,614. The county seat is Denton. Part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (and including small parts of both cities), it is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was established in 1846. History Before the arrival of white settlers, various Native American peoples, including the Kichai and the Lenape, infrequently populated the area. The area was settled by Peters Colony landowners in the early 1840s. Until the annexation of Texas, the area was considered part of Fannin County. On April 11, 1846, the First Texas Legislature established Denton County. The county was named for John B. Denton, who was killed while raiding a Native American village in Tarrant County in 1841. Originally, the county seat was set at Pickneyville. This was later changed to Alton, where the Old Alton Bridge currently stands, and then moved finally to Denton. By 1860, the population of the county had increased to 5,031. On March 4, 1861, residents of the county narrowly voted for secession from the Union, with 331 votes cast for and 264 against. The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad reached Lewisville, located in the southern portion of the county, by the early 1880s. The Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square was built in 1896, and today the building currently houses various government offices as well as a museum. A 2010 documentary, Gasland, claims that DISH, a small town in Denton County, has been polluted extensively by natural gas drilling. Geography }} According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (7.8%) is water. Denton County is located in the northern part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, approximately 35 miles south of the border between Texas and Oklahoma. The largest body of water in Denton County is Lewisville Lake, which was formed in 1954 when the Garza–Little Elm Reservoir was merged with Lake Dallas. The county is on the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers and also encompasses parts of the Grand Prairie portion of the Texas blackland prairies. Portions of Denton County sit atop the Barnett Shale, a geological formation believed to contain large quantities of natural shale gas. Between 1995 and 2007, the number of natural gas wells in the county increased from 156 to 1,820, which has led to some controversy over the pollution resulting from hydraulic fracturing. Adjacent counties * Cooke County (north) * Grayson County (northeast) * Collin County (east) * Dallas County (southeast) * Tarrant County (south) * Wise County (west) Transportation The northern intersection of Interstate 35 East and West, which branches the two portions of the highway towards Dallas and Fort Worth, is located in Denton County, in the city of Denton near the campus of the University of North Texas. In 1931, the paving of US Highway 77 through Lewisville, which connected Denton and Dallas, was finished. The entirety of Farm to Market Road 3040 is located in Denton County, running from its intersection with Farm to Market Road 2499 in Flower Mound to Hebron Parkway in Carrollton. The Denton County Transportation Authority operates a bus service in the county that includes Denton, Lewisville, and Highland Village. It also operates the A-train, a commuter rail service that has terminals in Denton and Carrollton. The county is home to the Denton Municipal Airport and the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located a few miles south of the county. Education The following school districts lie entirely within Denton County: * Argyle Independent School District * Aubrey Independent School District * Denton Independent School District * Lake Dallas Independent School District * Lewisville Independent School District * Little Elm Independent School District * Ponder Independent School District * Sanger Independent School District The following private educational institutions serve Denton County: * Denton Calvary Academy * Coram Deo Academy * Lakeland Christian School * Liberty Christian School * Selwyn College Preparatory School The following higher education institutions serve Denton County: * University of North Texas * Texas Woman's University * North Central Texas College Demographics 2012 Estimate }} As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 662,614 people, 224,840 households and 256,139 housing units in the county. The population density was 754.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 75% White, 8.4% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 6.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 2.9% from two or more races. 18.2% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino origin. Denton County ranked twenty-ninth on the US Census Bureau's list of fastest growing counties between 2000 and 2007, with a 41.4% increase in population. Politics References Books * * * * * * * Maps * }} * }} * }} * }} Websites * * |date=2012-01-31}} * }} * }} * }} External links *Denton County government's website *[http://www.dallasnews.com/communities/dentoncounty Headlines about Denton County from The Dallas Morning News] *Denton County entry in the Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas *Denton County Texas Almanac Page *Historic Denton County materials, hosted by the Portal to Texas History. *[http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-6992 Captain John B. Denton, preacher, lawyer and soldier. His life and times in Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas by Wm. Allen.], published 1905, hosted by the Portal to Texas History *A Guide to Things to Do and See in Denton County *Denton County on DentonWiki Category:Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Category:Denton County, Texas Category:1846 establishments in the United States Category:Counties of Texas